The Road to OSCAR

At first glance, one might be fooled by my talk of ladies' locker rooms at the gym and training for half marathons. Let me assure you, however, that being "active" is something I do because I know I am supposed to, much like eating vegetables, not because I necessarily enjoy it.  
You see, my true passion and, I would argue, talent, lies in my ability to be completely sedentary. I am actually very skilled at all things completely and utterly inactive. If reading my People magazine and random books, playing on my precious MacBook, watching TV, movies, or attending any live theater productions provided any sort of caloric burn, they would absolutely be my exercises of choice. If the aforementioned activities were considered sports, I also imagine I could receive a medal of some kind based on my ability to do several of them simultaneously.  

Enter my friend Leah who shares my love of all things arts and leisure (emphasis on the leisure aside from pedicures, which due to some unsavory news coverage, have her fearful of infection).  Traditionally, when Oscar season rolls around, we keep up with the nominees, watch the major award shows together, and, usually, can only speak to about half of the nominees.  

However, somewhere on this year's road to Oscar, we got serious and agreed that we would work to be more informed about the nominees than ever before.  If only being informed about the 2012 Presidential Election were half as enjoyable, we might be more motivated to watch.  Over the years, I have met others who make it their goal to do the same thing, but they are usually retired and have a lot of time on their hands.  

Our Mission: to see the 9 Oscar nominated films for Best Picture and any other movies nominated in major categories. 


Could we actually do it?  Would we be able to catch all of the Oscar Nominees (or at least those nominated in major categories) before the February 26th broadcast? Would we actually want to see the movies that would be listed at the January 24th announcement?

Cue the Rocky music and cut to Leah and I in our sweats, drinking caffeinated beverages to keep us going after a full day's work, sneaking in snacks to tide us over, and enduring long hours of critically acclaimed cinematography. Actually, we spent lots of time in public theaters which, unfortunately, eighty-sixed the sweat pants.  Rocky took the easy way out.  Jogging in sweat pants is one thing; sitting in a theater seat while the button on your jeans bites into your belly for hours upon end is quite another.  


Recognizing that sitting in a movie theater is not the most difficult of tasks, I would have to say that it was, surprisingly, exhausting at times.  Spending increased amounts of time in work clothes, plotting our viewing schedule based on various theater times and locations, and sitting through My Week with Marilyn made for some difficult times.  


All in all, it has been a great run and I am so looking forward to Oscar night in which Leah and I will be hosting a viewing party complete with an Oscar movie themed menu.  See below for an approximate tally of our journey.  


Know that there are a few numbers left off of this list that I just couldn't calculate which include: The amount of money spent ~ we had fun with it; anyone worried about the crunching of those numbers probably has different interests and opinions on the cost of the occasional movie goer's snack and doesn't even want to think about it.  It is too depressing.  Thanks to Leah for keeping us stocked with her Mary Poppins purse o' treats!  


There is also no way I could put a value on the times I was swept away by a plot line, felt emotion (good or bad) towards a character, or showed some sort of visible emotion whether it be laughing, crying, or anger.  On a side note, I would suggest seeing The Help or Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close if you are interested in experiencing all three emotions in one sitting.  

That is why I love the movies.  The ability to convey a message, show the power of someone else's story, and broadening the audience's horizons by inviting them inside someone else's world, whether it be real or not, is an impressive art. 

OSCAR BY THE NUMBERS

• 1,360 - MINUTES SPENT WATCHING OSCAR NOMINATED FILMS
• minus the amount of times I had to fast forward just to get through, and the point at which Leah stopped watching all together, the Tree of Life.
• Plus the minutes spent watching Ides of March and 50/50 which were recognized in previous awards arenas, but did not receive Oscar Nominations

• 29 - TOTAL NUMBER OF FILMS WATCHED
• this number includes fourteen "shorts" which run approximately 5 - 35 minutes each. 

• 9 - MOVIES WATCHED IN THE THEATER
• over a 6 week period between January 13th and February 24th 2012

• 16.5 - TOTAL HOURS SPENT IN THE THEATER

• 5.5 - LONGEST STRETCH OF HOURS SPENT IN ONE DAY(the Oscar Nominated "Short Films" were shown in concession at the Belcourt Theater

• 4 - THEATERS IN AND AROUND NASHVILLE THAT BENEFITTED FROM OUR OSCAR EDUCATION

• "Nicest Theater" - Thoroughbred 20 in Franklin
• "Most Convenient to Restaurants" (also most uncomfortable seats) - Regal in Green Hills
• "Most Original" (and worst view for a short person without stadium seating, but I will take it for the nostalgia) - The Belcourt Theater in Green Hills which showed the Oscar Nominated Shorts. 
• "Most Underrated" - Hollywood 27 which showed many films that others had stopped showing, including Hugo and My Week with Marilyn 

• 7 - MOVIES SEEN PRIOR TO OSCAR SEASON

• 6 - MOVIES WATCHED AT HOME VIA NETFLIX

• 3 - MOVIES LEFT UNSEEN  
• War Horse was out of the theaters by the time we got around to it. I won't pretend I was sad about that.  I don't enjoy watching the mix of war and animals.  Honestly, animals in movies is never a draw for me as they almost always die. Also, I don't think it has any chance of winning so I don't feel like I missed much.  
• I am, however, disappointed that we didn't get to see Albert Nobbs with Glenn Close, who I actually think could take the Best Actress Award.
• Also, for some reason God is the Bigger Elvis was not included in the Belcourt Theater's showing of the nominated Documentary Shorts which I was very disappointed by.

• 14 - FILMS IN WHICH A FOREIGN LANGUAGE AND/OR A BRITISH ACCENT WAS USED 
• Leah and I are practically British citizens at this point.

• 20 - AMOUNT OF DOLLARS I OWE TO THE CITY OF NASHVILLE FOR THE PARKING TICKET I RECEIVED OUTSIDE OF THE BELCOURT THEATER

• 3.5 - POUNDS I GAINED ON THE ROAD TO THE OSCARS. 
• As you can imagine, this sport does not encourage increased muscle mass. 

• 1 - NUMBER OF OSCAR RELATED INJURIES REPORTED THIS SEASON
• Belonging to me. My neck has been tingling after sitting for long periods. I think it has something to do with the disproportionate height of the auditorium style seating, my 5'1" frame, and terrible posture.

Stay tuned for my Oscar predictions!